One thing that has always been funny to me is how we grow up in grade school learning about "impared driving" or saying no to drugs in "red ribbon week", and the deaths to impared driving keep rising. As an innocent child, it is almost engraved in our minds that it is bad. But something happens when we grow up, and we lose innocense, and people forget the point behind learning everything they did that had to do with right from wrong. Even during Drivers education as a teenager getting their liscense, it is still thrown at us the dangers of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol behind the wheel. To me, impared driving means being under the influence of any type of drug or alcohol at an illegal amount that will affect your driving, even if you do not think it will at the time of judgment. One might choose to drive anyways even after being under the influence because they are underestimating the affect the drug has on them in the moment.

     One thing I see commonly as a naive teenager is how the affect of sleep can be almost similar to the affect of alcohol behind the wheel. At school, I learned that a lack of sleep can have the same affects as being drunk, and I feel like it is very common to drive when you're tired, especially for long trips at a time. Many people will not make the decision to pull over and take a short nap or make the decision to not drive at all. Sometimes, a few shots of caffeine just will not do the job. Unfortunately, there is too many deaths associated with teenagers. One thing about the teenage brain is that it is not fully developed yet, and we tend to make foolish decisions. When you pair that with driving, and even worse, alcohol, there is nothing good that can come out of a situation like that. In my school parking lot, I am suprised about how many accidents there are on a weekly basis. My school is huge, with about 2500 students, and only two parking lots that arent big enough. With the overflow of cars, and even worse, teenagers behind the wheel, out security team is always getting high school students crying over the car they just bumped, T-boned, or rear-ended.

     Drivers education is required for where I live if you are under the age of 17 to get a permit, which is required to get a license at a young age. I think it should be required for every age. Someone who might wait to get their license after 16 years old is not required to wait the 6 long months to get their permit to test for their license. They do not get to drive with a driver's education driver for the 6 hours. I think this may be part of the reason to the increase of deaths that relate to driving under the influence, but another reason I think contributes is the easy-access to alcohol, drugs, and nicotine as a teenager and adult. Many addictions start as a teenager, which makes it harder for them to stop as an adult, but that is a whole other essay and topic. Even though someone may be informed on the dangers of using, addiction will make it so they do not care about the consequences, and it could be too late.

     As someone who cares, I can take multiple steps to help stop the spread of deaths related to impared driving within the circle of people I drive with. I know not to get into the car with someone who is overly fatigued, or under the influence of any drug or alcohol. I can inform them of the risk, or remind those who already know the risk. Unfortunately, some people wait until it is too late to see the consequence with impared driving. Some people do not get the second chance. But their stories can be a reminder and lesson to those who need to hear it. Why would you risk it? Why would you be the reason a wife loses her husband? Why would you be the reason a brother loses his sister? Why would you be the reason a mother's child doesn't get to come home again? There is a real risk, and people need to continue to spread the word about it. Make better decisions, warn those around you, and do not risk it.